Session 3. Fabric Dyeing and Modifying

This month’s tasks:

Task 1: Exploring dyes - Dye some fabric

  • If trying lots of different dyes, use small 10cm pieces of cellulose and/or protein fibres for testing. In the live session, Emma’s shares a water bath method that is handy if you want to sample lots of different plant colours.

  • Then dye 4-10 dyed sample squares (roughly 46x46cm) with different dyes. You can then cut these up to over-dye, modify, and print on.

Task 2: Look through the Indigo resources

  • Prepare your space, gather the materials and equipment you need.

  • Have a go if you are feeling confident.

Ongoing Tasks:

  • Growing, propagating, planting throughout the spring. I keep planting until midsummer.

  • Mordanting fabric

Fabric for sampling

During the live session, it was requested that I give more detail on fabric for sampling that you will need going forward. Please note, measurements and quantities I give are rough guidelines, you can deviate from these as much as you like. At any point when you feel inspired and confident to, you can always dye larger pieces

Fabric often comes in 140cm width lengths. I work with 46cm sample squares because three of these squares can be cut across a width of fabric, so a metre of 140cm wide fabric gives six sample squares. I will refer to these as ‘sample squares’ going forward. Your sample pieces do not have to be this size, this is just a standardised system that I find works for me.

  • Mordanting

    • Aim to have at least 4 metres in total of fabric prepared for dyeing and printing. Eg: Two 1 metre pieces of protein fabric and two 1 metre pieces of cellulose prepared with different mordants. You can then cut these up as you need in to small samples and sample squares.

    • Save 1-2 metres of un-mordanted cellulose fibres for indigo dyeing and printmaking with mordants and a small amount for sampling. Save a small amount of un-mordanted protein fibres for indigo dyeing and sampling.

  • Exploring dyes

    • When trying lots of different dyes, use small 10cm pieces of cellulose and/or protein fibres for testing mordants, fabrics, and dye plants.

    • Then dye 4-10 sample squares with different dyes that you can then cut these up to over-dye, modify, and print on.

  • For indigo dyeing

    • 20cm x 20cm pieces of un-mordanted fabric (cellulose or protein… light cotton works well.) for practicing and experimenting with shibori resist techniques and practicing dyeing in the vat.

  • For printing with dye pastes

    • Simplest approach: One piece of alum mordanted silk or wool to try printing on.

    • If you want to explore this method more, prepare six or more sample squares of different fabric and mordants you can practice printing on. The size of the fabric pieces you make is limited by the size steamer you make.

  • For printing with modifier pastes

    • 1 - 6 sample squares (or half sample squares) dyed with different dyes. These can be cellulose or protein.

  • For printing with mordants before dyeing

    • 4 cellulose sample squares 2 mordanted and two un-mordanted

    • For the Alum paste, use un-mordanted cellulose sample squares.

    • For iron modifier, use un-mordanted cellulose sample squares if you want a pale background and mordanted cellulose sample squares if you want a coloured background.

Our next session: Session 4 - Indigo Dyeing & Shibori - June 13th 4-6pm BST